Lauren Hourigan is a new Organiser with the PSA based in Wellington and last week it was confirmed that she will be taking over from Susannah Bailey as the organiser for PSAY.

I am really excited to introduce myself to the PSAY membership, I know it’s going to be a full on and exciting year.

I have just recently returned to New Zealand from a year overseas in Australia and travelling around Asia and am looking forward to this new challenge to keep building on the amazing work of Susannah, Caleb, Tireni and the rest of the team.

I joined the PSA when I started working for Parliamentary Service in Dunedin in 2009 and became a delegate when I relocated to Wellington at the start of 2012. I’m passionate about young people becoming more active and involved in the union movement and social justice campaigns.

I’m keen to hear more about our member’s views on the upcoming general election and on what your priorities are, my email is lauren.hourigan@psa.org.nz and I’d love to hear from you if you want to connect before we get a chance to meet in person.

It’s that time of year – delegate elections!

Now is the time to step up to a leadership role in your union! Union delegates are elected every two years by members to represent them in their workplace. One of the main goals of the PSA Youth network is to increase youth leadership in the union, including in delegate and other leadership roles. It’s important that young members have representation on the issues that matter to you.

We’d love to see more PSA Youth members put their hand up to become delegates. Delegates are the heart of the PSA. Delegates are the first point of contact for members for information and advice. In addition to work sites, delegates are eligible to sit on national committees, sector committees, at congress and on the board.

The PSA supports delegates through a comprehensive, all expenses paid programme of workshops with other newly elected delegates from different workplaces. The workshops are designed to provide you with the skills and confidence to be an effective delegate as well as providing an opportunity to meet fellow members.

PSAY have had some real success in encouraging young members to step up to delegate, network convenor, sector committee and other roles in the union. This is a constant task, as we seek to ensure that these leaders are regularly rejuvenated!

We’d love you to consider standing for a delegate role. Most delegates are elected at annual members meetings at your worksite, which are taking place over the next few months around the country. But if you’re interested there’s no need to wait – approach a delegate now to let them know you’re interested!Click here to find out more about the delegate role, or speak to your delegate or our organising centre for more advice on how to get involved.

Already a delegate? We’d love to see more young delegates stand for sector committees. Please email psay@psa.org.nz if you think you might be keen.

Organiser Traineeship – trainees appointed!

In March we sent an email to PSAY members requesting expressions of interest for a paid union organiser traineeship programme, commencing in May this year. This is a cross-union initiative led by PSA, to ‘To develop the skills and thinking of a cohort of new union organisers who can meet the challenges of organising working people in today’s society and make a positive contribution to building strong, relevant and effective trade unions.’

We are very pleased to announce the appointment of two PSAY members to the PSA trainee roles – Erina Stockman and Kelly Cotter. Erina and Kelly have both been very active in PSAY and the PSA more generally, and we are excited to have them on board.

We were super stoked about the level of interest and quality of applications for these positions. This is a pilot project and hope that this is the start of something much bigger! We will keep you in the loop on how the project progresses.

Yes We Care, a cross union campaign about health underfunding, recently took 200 life-sized cut-outs of doctors, nurses and other health occupations to 38 towns travelling over 6000km from Bluff all the way up to Cape Reinga. Each cut-out represents local health workers and professionals missing due to Government underfunding. They have created some really cool videos of personal stories and highlights of the roadshow, check them out here.

Recent PSAY events in Wellington and Christchurch

PSAY recently held events in Wellington and Christchurch, Wellington convener Gabie had this to say about their event:

A few weeks ago the Wellington PSAY crew had an awesome get together, kicking things off for 2017 and thinking about what we want to do this year. It was a great opportunity to meet some new people, reconnect with old friends and plan for the year ahead. From the feedback we got, it looks like we'll be combining kung fu, destroying capitalism and mentoring! With a side of drinking, of course. There will be a message out very soon about the next event – follow our Facebook page to keep in touch!

Keep your eyes peeled for more regional events in future newsletters as well as our biennial Hui coming up later this year.

Member Q&A - Katey Fraser

Katey Fraser, Processing Officer, Ministry of Social Development

This month we catch up with Katey Fraser, A processing Officer and National Delegate at MSD in Whangarei

What were you initial thoughts on signing up to do this Q&A?

Absolutely terrified and nervous. I’m not good with putting myself out there, but am trying to get better at it.

What is your job and what do you do on an average day at work?

I currently work for Ministry of Social Development at the Centralised Services Whangarei office, processing New Zealand Superannuation. The people I get to speak with are always the highlight of my day, and knowing I get to help people who need the support is so rewarding.

What was a highlight at work for you in the past month?

Getting to present the induction to the PSA to two groups of new recruits, which gave me a

chance to open up the union world to a lot of younger people who had never even heard of unions!

What would you say is the hardest thing about your job?

The stress and strain of the amount of work, especially since the retirement age group is getting larger and larger. Also juggling work/life balance.

What do you enjoy about being a part of PSA and PSA Youth, and what brought you to join?

I love the fact that being in the PSA gives me an opportunity to be part of something bigger than just myself, and be part of a collective of people who are like minded. And being part of PSAY means I have a chance to speak with other young people about real life issues we face within our workplaces and society.

What is your vision for young members of the PSA?

To be able to have strong voices to be able to represent themselves and others with issues that

continue to plague younger people in the workforce, such as Equal Pay and fixed term/casual contracts.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

Reading, watching movies, going for long drives, and playing video games like a typical hashtag youth

What cause would get you out on the streets protesting and why?

Anything to do with our environment. If we as a collective do not fight to keep our environment clean and green, the New Zealand we love will not continue to exist.

Which three figures from past or present would you invite to your place for dinner, and why?

Stephen Fry as he’s so knowledgeable and he would be an amazing person to talk to about LGBT issues.

Alice Cooper as he would have amazing stories for being a rock star in the 80’s.

My mum as I always go to her place for dinner and it’s about time I cook her dinner.

What are your three pet peeves?

When people talk over others.

People who are slow walkers.

Cars that aren’t parked within the lines!!!

What advice would you give your 16 year old self?

Don’t give up. It seems like everything is the worst it can be right now, but it’s not, it gets worse! But then it gets so much better! You don’t have to make life changing decisions like Uni right now, do it at your own pace. And remember, you think you’re cool but you’re not.